Hook & Ladder Backdraft Brown | Hook & Ladder Brewing Company (No. 2)

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Reviews by hdf561:

Had in bottle at Regional Food and Drink August 21 2011 in Washington DC.

Ill will be the first to admit, Im not typically a darker beer fan, but when you go to place like RFD you want to make it worth your while and this is one of the only Hook and Ladder Beers I have not tried.

Had to tell appearance cause it was in a bottle so I rated it slightly above average, and to be honest appearance means very littel to me anyway when rating a beer.

The smell was not appealing.

The taste it was initally a little harsh, but mellowed out throughout the drink, it did not have a very strong initial aftertaste, but it was a beer a tasted on my tounge the rest of the night, on my Metro and car ride back home.

Overall this is an above average beer, that is worth a try. Again Im not much on beers like this but it was still good, and it supports firefighters which since I am one is always awesome.

More User Reviews:

A 12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. It was a fairly dark brown with faint red highlights. Thin head, but still a little lacing. Nice caramel aroma. Caramel taste, but way too sweet, like drinking a Coca Cola. Just not a very pleasant beer for me. I'm gonna feed them to my son-in-law.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: It had a tan head of average size that fades quickly leaving only a little lacing. The body has a dark brown color with some nice ruby red highlights.

Smell: The aroma has a big sweet, malty, bready character.

Taste/Mouth feel: The base flavor is malty and bready with some hints of darker roasted malt and modest, slightly citrusy hops. The hops add a good balance to the mostly malty character and finish with the beer with a pleasant soft bitterness. Its texture is smooth, slightly slick and medium bodied with light to average carbonation.

Presentation: 12 oz brown long neck bottle with no freshness date. No other info on the label.

Appearance: Deep ruddy brown colour with a more than decent off white lace.

Smell: Sweet coffee and toffee mix, more coffee for sure.

Taste: Moderately bodied with a crisp biting mouth feel and carbonation. A fairly dry brew, hop bitterness is sharp but not overboard. Middle of the line roasted malt character defines that this is still a brown ale or a poor man&#8217;s porter. The roasted flavour goes a bit nutty and flows into the dry finish with the bitterness.

Notes: I could definitely vision myself sitting down and making this a session brew. Every once in a while a beer comes along and tweaks my fancy ... this is one.

Pours a dark ruddy mahogany brown hue with a light beige head that forms thick and dwindles slowly. Chunks of scattered lacing are left clinging to the sides of my glass. Aroma a roasted caramel accent about it with light herbal hops, with a nutty finish to it all. Flavors are a muddled watery mess of roasted malt and weird chocolate caramel coated fruit, no real hops the finish tastes like muddy cocoa. Mouthfeel is watery and pretty thin for a brown, but finishes with the cloying residual sugar muddled mess I tried to describe in the flavor. I'm guessing this is a contract brew by High Falls but I'm not sure. Drinkability overall is pretty weak not something I will ever look for again.

Overall a drinkable beer with decent structure. I like a brown with more smoothness that moves toward more of a session beer. This is a fairly hopped beer with a less "big" finish. Don't get me wrong it is drinkable and I like the fact that a very small portion goes to burn victims (but more could go to them if it was a little better!).

I am kind of surprised to see the scores so low on this beer. I'm not a huge American Brown guy and I thought this was delicious.

Dark chocolate in color with a thick 2 finger head - this looks a bit creamy, something I really enjoy for this style. It has a pleasant molasses, brown sugar aroma that is match in the mouth. A nice chewy, creamy malt backbone makes each sip a pleasure.

Pours out a dark brown beer with ruby tones when viewed through lights.Has a decent malty smell to it,,no hop aroma to mention. Taste is malty but dry,,no sweetness to mention,,slightly astringent,,very little in the way of hops. Mouthfeel is pretty nice,,not too much or too little..Very drinkable.

On tap-Dark brown pour w/a little lacing. Faint Roasted malt aroma. Kind of a standard brown, roasted malt & nuts, had some carbonation & a little bit of a smoked flavor to it, but really nothing special. Not nearly as good as their wheat-surprised it is rated higher that the wheat (which is really a golden ale). Kind of thin mouthfeel.

Drinkability: Light, crisp, and moderately flavorful. Easy to drink several of these in a sitting. Not a stellar beer, but one I'll definitely consider when I'm not looking for something more expensive.

Man, what's up with these beers? I've tried all three and they reek of minerals and phenols. It's like the brewing water is all out of whack. The flavor has a bitter chocolate flavor and a dry finish, but the medicinal phenol taste throws everything off. It seems like there might be a decent brown ale hidden under the massive phenols.